Critically acclaimed French drama Blue is the Warmest Color hits U.S. theaters this weekend after making headlines for its controversial sex scenes and accusations of abusive on-set behavior from director Abdellatif Kechiche.

Back in May, before the war of words erupted, Kechiche, Seydoux and star Adele Exarchopoulos sat down with The Hollywood Reporter during the Cannes Film Festival, where the love story won the Palme d'Or.

Kechiche said his stars were "obviously the best choice" for his film.

"They have two different but complementary personalities. I had an intuition that I had to make the movie with them," Kechiche said.

Exarchopoulos said there was no real schedule to shooting with Kechiche, because he loved to improvise and would shoot anytime, anywhere.

"Even in the train on our way back to Paris eating a cake, and he loves the way you are doing it, he will shoot it," Exarchopoulos said. "If you are sleeping during a break, he will shoot it. Anytime and all the time. Sometimes we would get to the set and he won't shoot anything. Other times, we would be tired, wondering when he would stop."

Seydoux, who is nearly a decade older than her co-star and onscreen love interest Exarchopoulos, said their personalities complemented each other despite the age difference.